Dallas police solve missing persons case after 52 years

The Brief

  • Dallas police now know what happened to 16-year-old Norman Prater after his disappearance in 1973. It was the department’s oldest missing persons cold case.
  • A newly discovered photo of an unidentified hit-and-run victim in Rock Port, Texas allowed a detective and Prater’s brother to confirm his identity.
  • It remains unknown how Prater ended up in South Texas. The driver involved in the fatal hit-and-run is also unknown.

DALLAS A Dallas family finally has closure after a decades-old missing persons case was solved.

The Dallas Police Department said that at the end of 2025, it finally had a breakthrough after 52 years.

A new lead sparked movement in the cold case, and a veteran Dallas detective was able to connect two seemingly separate incidents.

The backstory:

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